Lodi Middle administrator, principal quit in wake of arrest

LODI - A Lodi Middle School administrator who ordered a citizen's arrest on a physical education teacher in December has resigned effective June 30, as has the principal of the school.

Keith Reid

LODI - A Lodi Middle School administrator who ordered a citizen's arrest on a physical education teacher in December has resigned effective June 30, as has the principal of the school.

The Lodi Unified Board of Trustees will consider the resignations of Principal Patricia Lingerfelt and Vice Principal Lurdes Rosales at tonight's meeting.

Lingerfelt and Rosales came under fire in December after Rosales called police a day after teacher Jon Lapachet allegedly "bumped" her after a verbal altercation during a physical education class. The district attorney's office dismissed the case before a January hearing on the matter, and charges were not filed.

Teachers union president Jeff Johnston said he is never pleased to see a Lodi Unified employee resign or lose their job under trying circumstances. However, he said changes had to be made at Lodi Middle School.

"We are grateful that the Lodi Middle School community of students, parents, and staff will have an opportunity for a fresh start in the 2012-13 school year," Johnston said in a prepared statement. "LEA and the certificated staff at LMS will renew our efforts to make LMS a quality education destination. It will be a fresh start to rebuild trust, forge new relationships and restore broken ones."

The teacher's union has protested the arrest, saying it was made outside of district protocol for teacher discipline. The majority of Lodi Middle School's staff attended a Jan. 17 board meeting seeking leadership changes at the middle school. Lodi Unified launched an internal investigation into the incident but has not publicly released any findings.

"We don't have any formal information on that," Trustee President Ron Heberle said regarding the investigation.

Teachers at the middle school felt burned when Rosales and Lingerfelt spoke publicly about the personnel matter, teacher Sherry Alexander said at the Jan. 17 board meeting.

The administrators told the Lodi News-Sentinel several days after the incident occurred that the arrest was the result of long-standing insubordination.

Lingerfelt compared the incident to the courage detailed by civil rights activist Rosa Parks, who refused to sit in the back of a bus in Montgomery, Ala., in 1955.

Attempts to reach Lingerfelt, Rosales, and Lapachet were unsuccessful on Monday.

Some parents of children at the school have spoken out in support of the administrators.

At the same January meeting where teachers asked trustees to consider a change in leadership, a group of parents said Lingerfelt was doing a great job at the middle school.

"This is disappointing to me," parent Liz Halloran said Monday after learning the administrators had resigned. "Mrs. Lingerfelt came here with enthusiasm and a set of goals - none of which should have alienated teachers."

Halloran said she believes it will be proved over time that the teaching staff at Lodi Middle School are to blame for the fallout at the school.

"They are going to bring in new (administrators) and the same thing is going to happen again," she said.